Romeo For Real

Just Julian and Romeo for Real are companion novels that approach the same insta-love romance from two different perspectives. Just Julian follows Julian Capulet, a young man trying to pull himself out of a long-standing depressive episode after his cousin ended up in jail a number of years earlier. One night, after his best friend convinces him to attend a party, Julian randomly meets another teen named Romeo. They share a passionate kiss in a dark room but are discovered, and Romeo flees the scene. Julian later finds out that Romeo is friends with some students responsible for a number of assaults on queer and trans kids in the area. Julian tries to make his relationship with Romeo work even though his friends are telling him that Romeo is bad news, and his mother sees Romeo as more of a fling than a long-term romance.

Romeo for Real follows the same storyline but from Romeo’s perspective, filling in some of the back story left out in Just Julian. Romeo Montague is a successful basketball player and has a lot of friends. He knows his friends are homophobic and transphobic, but he just feels guilty for hanging out with them. After meeting Julian, he feels that he needs to make a change. His family doesn’t want to accept his sexuality, however, nor do his friends, leading to a rather violent showdown late one night, leaving Romeo and Julian both in the hospital.

Following the same basic plot as Romeo and Juliet, these companion novels attempt to queer the narrative and make it more relevant to the modern-day experiences of gay and trans teens, complete with a gender-diverse and sexually inclusive cast of characters and a focus on themes of bullying and acceptance.

It is unfortunate, format-wise, that these stories were written as hi-lo novels. The characters end up being underdeveloped and the surrounding characters and setting are very flat. If the overarching narrative had instead been written as a singular novel in two alternating voices, I believe the finished product would have been much more effective. As they are, the two protagonists get very little time (not literal time, but space on the page) to be developed, leaving readers with little to grasp onto and empathize with.

Furthermore, the homophobia portrayed on the page seems excessive for such low page count, especially considering the end point for the two lovers is a happier one than Shakespeare allowed for. I understand that Romeo is supposed to be given a bit of a redemptive arc, but this redemption happens in the course of only a few days, distilled in the novels to only a few chapters overall.

Gender and sexuality are such complex topics that the hi-lo format seems less than ideal for a narrative that requires a more nuanced approach. I applaud Harwood-Jones’ concept but feel that the execution leaves much to be desired. The love story is cute and will likely appeal to some readers looking for a swift queer love-at-first-sight tale, but those looking for substance will be left disappointed.